THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Kerala recorded the highest number of dengue cases and resultant deaths in the country last year. According to ‘EnviStats India 2024’, published recently by the Union ministry of statistics and Programme Implementation, the state registered 9,770 cases and 37 deaths in 2023. Inadequate sanitation is among the reasons for the spread of the disease, the report said.
Uttarakhand was second in the list of dengue deaths, with 14 fatalities, followed by Bihar (seven). The number of dengue cases in Kerala doubled in 2023 compared to the previous year’s 4,432. With 29 deaths, Kerala was in fifth position among states in 2022. Of the 565 malaria cases reported in Kerala in 2023, 299 were caused by the most fatal plasmodium falciparum parasite. With seven deaths, Kerala recorded the fourth highest number of fatalities in the country. This translated to nearly 10% of the total malaria deaths in the country (72).
The report provides state-wise data on nine diseases “closely linked to inadequate sanitation and hazardous environment”. With 1,131 chikungunya cases Kerala was in the ninth position among 35 states and UTs. Chikungunya cases showed an alarming rise in the state, from 78 in 2017. The number peaked at 3,030 in 2021.
For six other diseases, the report had data until 2021. That year, Kerala was the only state that did not report a case of acute respiratory infection (ARI). As many as 1.73 crore cases and 9,872 deaths were reported in the country and Rajasthan topped the list with 36.5 lakh cases. Typhoid cases in Kerala showed a steep decline from 18,440 in 2020 to 30 in 2021. The state recorded the second-lowest number of cases after Lakshadweep (22).
Kerala is among the ten states/UTs in the country “still grappling with cholera - the severe diarrhoeal disease”, the report said. West Bengal recorded the highest number of cases (603). With one case each, Kerala and Puducherry shared tenth position. In 2020, the state had witnessed four cholera cases and one fatality.
With 2.38 lakh cases, Kerala occupied 20th position in the list of acute diarrhoeal disease. With three deaths, the state was ranked eighth in terms of fatality. The state recorded 851 cases and five deaths due to viral hepatitis. 36 cases of Japanese encephalitis were reported and one person died.
“Kerala is at high risk of infectious diseases due to multiple factors. Climate change, especially intermittent rains, combined with improper waste management and rapid urbanisation, potentially increases the chance of mosquito breeding, thereby raising the incidence of dengue fever and chikungunya,” said Dr Althaf A, an epidemiologist and professor of community medicine at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. “In addition to proper sanitation by local self-governments, people should ensure that their homes and workplaces do not have open stagnant water where mosquitoes can breed.” Dr Althaf said.